Hickey on Hockey: Even as a seller, Habs have limited options for trade deadline deals

With the trade deadline less than a month away, it's becoming clear that, if the Canadiens aren't going to be sellers, they are certainly not going to be buyers. With each loss, they become less likely to reach the playoffs and the focus has to be on the future.

With the trade deadline less than a month away, it’s becoming clear that, if the Canadiens aren’t going to be sellers, they are certainly not going to be buyers. With each loss, they become less likely to reach the playoffs and the focus has to be on the future.

But there is one team that has emerged as a surprise seller. The New York Rangers are only one point out of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, but reports from the Big Apple indicate the Rangers are willing to trade some of their key assets. There are some obvious candidates, like 30-something forwards Rick Nash, Michael Grabner and former Canadien David Desharnais. But the rumour mill says captain Ryan McDonagh and leading scorer Mats Zuccarello could be had if the price is right.

The Rangers have reached the Stanley Cup final in the past decade (losing to the Los Angeles Kings in 2014), but the feeling is they have wasted the best years of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist’s career — he’s 35 — and it’s time to retool.

As for the Canadiens, there are any number of rumours concerning Max Pacioretty and Alex Galchenyuk, as well as free-agent-to-be Tomas Plekanec, who is the perfect fit for a team that needs a short-term rental on a shutdown centre.

Pacioretty probably has the most value, but he’s a proven 30-goal scorer on a team that struggles to score and it would be insane to trade him unless the player coming back is John Tavares. But Pacioretty and the Canadiens should sit down and discuss his role as a captain. It’s an honour to be a captain but in Pacioretty’s case, it’s a distraction he doesn’t need.

Galchenyuk should be an untouchable because he’s still young, has a reasonable contract and has some potential, even if he isn’t the centre everyone wanted him to be.

If the Canadiens do make a deal, they should be looking for NHL-ready bodies in return. It makes no sense to trade for a first-round draft pick unless it figures to be a top-five lottery pick and those aren’t available if you’re dealing with a contender.

Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrates a goal against the Detroit Red Wings on April 13, 2016, in Tampa.Mike Carlson /
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Kucherov best to date: After a 50-year hiatus, the Professional Hockey Writers Association has revived the practice of polling its members on the top players at mid-season and Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning gets the nod as the Hart Trophy favourite over Nathan McKinnon and John Tavares.

Not surprisingly, there are no Canadiens in the top three (or the top 10 for that matter) in any of the categories.

The writers also selected choices for coach of the year (Vegas’s Gerard Gallant), Vézina Trophy (Tampa’s Andrei Vasilevskiy) and top GM (Vegas’s George McPhee). They also created two new awards — the Rod Langway Award for best defensive defenceman (Drew Doughty) and comeback player of the year (Steven Stamkos).

Poulin to lead Canadian women: It should come as no surprise Marie-Philip Poulin has been selected as the captain of the Canadian women’s hockey team that will compete in the Winter Olympics next month in South Korea. She succeeds Caroline Ouellette, who retired from international competition after winning four Olympic gold medals. Poulin, a Beauceville native, has already made Olympic history by scoring the winning goal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. The alternate captains are Brianne Jenner, Meghan Agosta and Jocelyne Larocque.

Fans at the Bell Centre take in the atmosphere during Game 1 of playoff series against the New York Rangers on April 12, 2017.Minas Panagiotakis /
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Heavy demand for Habs tickets — at a discount: The folks at ticket reseller StubHub report the Canadiens remain a popular ticket, although there are a couple of reasons for the popularity and neither of them are good.

StubHub reports demand for Canadiens tickets are No. 2 in Canada behind the Toronto Maple Leafs and that’s because (a) ticket holders are willing to part with their seats and (b) prices for Montreal games are reaching historic lows. Reds have been available for less than $100 at many games. There are Canadiens games in the second half of the season that rank in the top 10 in demand for Canadian teams, There was the Jan. 17 home game against Boston, the March 3 home game against Boston and the Canadiens’ Feb. 17 visit to Las Vegas.

CWHL adds USA castoff: Kunlun Red Star, the Chinese-based team that is pushing Les Canadiennes for first place in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, has added some offence in Alex Carpenter, the 2015 winner of the Patty Kazmaier Trophy as the top player in the U.S. women’s college hockey while playing at Boston College. Carpenter joined Red Star after being cut from the U.S. Olympic team. The decision to join Kunlun was a no-brainer because her father, former NHL player Bobby Carpenter, is the coach of the Red Star men’s team in the KHL.

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